We again held a face-to-face Season Ticket Baseball tournament during the recent IndiCon 2026 convention in Auburn, Indiana, hosted by S.T. Patrick and Jena Henson. The theme of the tournament was "Midwest Hall of Famers", with any team from the Season Ticket catalogue that met two conditions eligible to participate: (1) had a regular-season winning percentage between .475 and .525, and (2) had on its roster a Hall of Famer born in Indiana or in one of the immediately-surrounding states (Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan or Ohio). There were 105 teams available in the pool, and eight managers selected a squad and then faced off for bragging rights and a place in tabletop baseball immortality as the first IndiCon STB Tournament Champion . . .
The intent of the tournament was to provide a fun-first setting in which people would have a chance to both play STB face-to-face, and to perhaps learn the game better by playing with more experienced gamers. The field shaped up like this, with teams from the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 2000s vying for supremacy:
| Manager | Team | Hall of Famers (State) |
|---|---|---|
| Brandan Baker | 1987 Cincinnati Reds (84-78) | Barry Larkin (OH) |
| Michael Canestrari | 2007 Atlanta Braves (84-78) | John Smoltz (MI) |
| Joe Costa | 1955 Detroit Tigers (79-75) | Jim Bunning (KY) |
| Bart Ewing | 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers (85-77) | Jim Bunning (KY) |
| Todd Heidenreich | 1968 Pittsburgh Pirates (80-82) | Jim Bunning (KY) |
| Scott Johnson | 1974 Chicago White Sox (80-80) | Jim Kaat (MI) |
| Roy Paeth | 1979 Philadelphia Phillies (84-78) | Jim Kaat (MI), Mike Schmidt (OH) |
| Tom Tift | 1963 Detroit Tigers (79-83) | Jim Bunning (KY) |
The format for the tournament would be single elimination over three rounds (full rules here), with all eight clubs continuing to play for final position in each round. The teams were laid out on the table, the scoresheets filled in, the dice spoken to in hushed and pleading tones, and off we went . . .
1955 Tigers (Billy Hoeft) at 1968 Pirates (Bob Veale): Bob Veale recovered from a bumpy start to dominate the Tigers, and Maury Wills delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly for Pittsburgh in the bottom of the 9th. Detroit had made life uncomfortable for Veale in the top of the 3rd, two singles and two walks leading to two runs that put the visitors into the lead. The Bucs responded in the 4th when Gene Alley and Roberto Clemente singled, and Donn Clendenon drove Alley home with a one-out hit. Clemente tripled to center to lead off the home half of the 6th, and again it was Clendenon's one-out single that produced the run, this time to tie the game at two runs apiece. And that's where the score stayed into the 9th inning - Hoeft pitched into the 8th, and Veale was almost untouchable as the game went on, retiring eighteen of the final twenty Bengals he faced. In the bottom of the 9th, Joe Coleman came on to pitch for Detroit, and was greeted by singles from Manny Mota and Jerry May to start the inning. Al Aber replaced Coleman, and got pinch-hitter Chuck Hiller to tap back to the mound but the runners, crucially, advanced to second and third on the play. That brought up the top of the Pirate order and Wills, working on a 3-for-4 afternoon, skied one to medium-deep left field from whence Jim Delsing was unable to get the ball to the plate in time to beat Mota's slide across with the winning run. Veale finished with a five-hit complete game and 6 Ks, while Pittsburgh had four players with at least two base hits. 1968 Pirates 3-12-0, 1955 Tigers 2-5-0. [scoresheet]
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| Donn Clendenon drove home two of the three Pittsburgh runs |
1969 Dodgers (Claude Osteen) at 1987 Reds (Ron Robinson): A disastrous 4th inning for Los Angeles put Cincinnati in control, and Ron Robinson and Bill Landrum combined to hold off some late Dodger noise. It was a scoreless game through three innings, although the Dodgers had touched Robinson for five hits only to have two men thrown out on the bases and one erased on a GIDP. Osteen had allowed two hits, and also been the beneficiary of a double play, but it went sideways for the veteran lefty in the 4th. Eric Davis and Buddy Bell led off with singles and, after Dave Parker popped out, Nick Esasky (3-for-4) drove home both runners with a double. Bo Diaz singled him to third, and then Maury Wills muffed a Tracy Jones grounder to gift the Reds a third run on the board. Robinson sharpened up as the game wore on, allowing two singles and a walk over four innings through the 7th, and then he got a little more offensive support as Cincinnati rolled out the big swings in the bottom of the 7th (this would become a theme). With one away, Dave Concepcion lifted down the LF line and just over the fence (one real-life homer - Power 0 and an 18 on the Deep Drive roll!), and Davis followed him with a noticeably longer drive that gave the home team a 5-0 lead. Willie Davis (3-for-4) went deep for Los Angeles with two gone in the top of the 8th, and that was the end of Robinson's afternoon; Landrum made it interesting by allowing a leadoff single to Willie Crawford (3-for-4) in the 9th, and then plunking Bill Sudakis to put the tying run on deck with no one out, but he retired the next three men to seal the deal. 1987 Reds 5-11-0, 1969 Dodgers 2-9-1. [scoresheet]
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| Ron Robinson mystified the Dodgers with 7.2 innings of one-run ball |
2007 Braves (Tim Hudson) at 1963 Tigers (Jim Bunning): There was little room between the two clubs at Tiger Stadium as Al Kaline's 3rd-inning homer proved to be enough for the Tigers to edge the Braves. With the score still 0-0 and the teams having managed but a single hit through two frames, Dick McAuliffe led off the 3rd by drawing a walk against Hudson, and Kaline followed with a tape-measure shot to left to make it 2-0. The Atlanta hurler was clearly unsettled, as he put the next three Tigers on base, but he recovered to get Bubba Phillips on a grounder to first to escape with further harm. Meanwhile, Atlanta saw its first nine hitters return quietly to the dugout against Bunning, but the Tiger starter's glove would prove his undoing in the next half inning. Edgar Renteria led off the top of the 4th with a squibber to the left of the mound, and Bunning got there in plenty of time but threw wildly to first base as the ATL shortstop reached second, and then scored on Jeff Francouer's RBI single to cut the DET lead in half. Mark Teixeira singled to put two Braves on, but Bunning got a big double-play ball off the bat of Matt Diaz to end the frame with Detroit holding onto a one-run lead. And that was it for the offenses - Hudson faced the minimum over the next three innings and Bunning held down the fort for seven before yielding to Fred Gladding and Don Mossi for the final six outs, four of which came via strikeout. Chipper Jones and Teixeira had two hits each for Atlanta, while Kaline and Norm Cash did the same for Detroit. 1963 Tigers 2-6-1, 2007 Braves 1-7-0. [scoresheet]
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| Al Kaline drives an early two-run homer that would be just enough for Detroit |
1979 Phillies (Steve Carlton) at 1974 White Sox (Bart Johnson): Bart Johnson spun a two-hit masterpiece, striking out nine Phillies while walking none, and Chicago got two early home runs to take a lead they would not relinquish. Dick Allen homered with two away in the bottom of the 1st to break the ice, and Bill Melton hit a three-run bomb off of Carlton in the 3rd. The inning had started poorly for Philadelphia when Carlton couldn't handle Jorge Orta's comebacker for an error, and Allen then singled right behind him. Carlton hadn't yet gotten an out in the inning, and still hadn't after having to turn and watch Melton's drive settle into the left-field seats. This seemed to shake him out of his early funk, as he eighteen of the next nineteen ChiSox with seven Ks, but the damage had been done. If it hadn't been for two fielding errors behind him, Johnson would have set down 21 Phils in a row after Pete Rose's single to start the game, before Larry Bowa tripled with two outs in the 8th. But Johnson retired Rose and then set down the Fightless Phils in order in the 9th to put the finishing touches on a spectacular pitching performance. Allen and Melton each had two of Chicago's five hits. 1974 White Sox 4-5-2, 1979 Phillies 0-2-2. [scoresheet]
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| Bart Johnson dazzles the Phils on two hits |
Second Round - Consolation Bracket
1955 Tigers (Frank Lary) at 1969 Dodgers (Bill Singer): Four Tiger pitchers worked around eleven hits and Bill Tuttle homered twice as Detroit outpaced Los Angeles. The clubs traded 1st-inning runs, Al Kaline singling in one for Detroit before Wes Parker answered with a solo homer, and then the visitors put Singer under duress in the 3rd. Tuttle led off with a deep drive that carried over the fence in left field and then, after Harvey Kuenn had whiffed, the Tigers strung together three straight singles with Frank House's base hit delivering the third Detroit run. A Jim Lefebvre error to start the 5th led to another score for the Tigers and Los Angeles was facing a four-run mountain. It's not like LA didn't have its chances - they had a hit in every inning but two, left the bases loaded in the 1st, and stranded two in the 3rd, 7th and 9th (on their way to twelve LOB in the game) but could not find a way to get the big hit against Tiger pitching. Lary lasted 6.1 innings and then Lou Cristante, Van Fletcher and Bob Miller ran out the string on the Dodgers for the final eight outs. Parker was 3-for-4 with a walk, as was Al Kaline for Detroit. 1955 Tigers 5-10-0, 1969 Dodgers 1-11-1. [scoresheet]
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| Bill Tuttle cracked two home runs to lead Detroit |
2007 Braves (John Smoltz) at 1979 Phillies (Nino Espinosa): Philadelphia rapped John Smoltz around the ballpark in a six-hit 4th inning that gave them the lead, and four Phillie pitchers combined to hold the Braves to seven hits. An Andruw Jones homer with Kelly Johnson aboard sent the Braves to the front in the 2nd inning, and Smoltz looked tough as he retired the first seven Phils but he lost the plot in the 4th. After fanning Greg Luzinski to start the inning, Garry Maddox and Manny Trillo singled; then, after Bake McBride bounced into a force out, three straight singles followed off the sticks of Larry Bowa, Espinosa, and Pete Rose to make the score 4-2 in favor of Philadelphia. Two singles and a two-out RBI double by McBride added another for the home team in the 5th and that would be all for Smoltz. The score was 5-3 when Rafael Soriano replaced him in the 6th, and things didn't get any better for Atlanta; the first three men reached base and Bob Boone and Maddox each drove in runs with singles to make it a 7-3 game. Three Phillie relievers tossed goose eggs at the Braves for the last four innings and PHI added a garbage-time run on back-to-back doubles by Luzinski and Maddox (3-for-4) in the 8th. 1979 Phillies 8-15-1, 2007 Braves 3-7-0. [scoresheet]
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| Garry Maddox had three hits and two RBI |
1968 Pirates (Steve Blass) at 1987 Reds (Guy Hoffman): In the wildest game of the tournament, which featured five home runs including back-to-back-to-back blasts by Cincinnati, Pittsburgh scored the tie-breaking run in the top of the 9th and held on to win. It didn't take long for crooked numbers to start going up on the board at Riverfront Stadium, as the Pirates got two in the 2nd when Bill Mazeroski and Jerry May followed Donn Clendenon's one-out walk with two-base hits. Clendenon's two-out single in the 3rd scored another the Pittsburgh and, when Manny Mota homered to lead off the top of the 4th to make it 4-0, the Reds started looking at their mop-up relief options. But their plans would change, and loudly, in the bottom of the inning. After David Bell grounded out, the noise began - Eric Davis BOOM! Kal Daniels BAM! Dave Parker POW! - and in the course of three swings of the bat, the Reds were back in it. They were all of the way back in it just a few batters later when a Nick Esasky single, Bo Diaz walk and Ron Oester single produced the tying run. Steve Blass' nightmare continued into the 5th when he walked Davis, Daniels and Esasky before Diaz singled home two runs to end his day and put Cincinnati ahead 6-4. The teams traded runs in the 7th, and Tom Hume took the mound in the top of the 8th for his second inning of work protecting the two-run lead. With one away, he walked Mazeroski and the Reds went to Frank Williams to face Manny Mota, and Pittsburgh countered with pinch-hitter Chuck Hiller. The batting swap paid off handsomely as Hiller took Williams up and out of the yard for a two-run home run which tied the game again at seven runs apiece. Cincinnati came up empty in the bottom half when Dock Ellis came on and survived a Gene Alley error to retire Daniels for the third out with the bases full, and the Pirates came up in the top of the 9th inning. Alley singled to lead off the inning, moved to second on a groundout and, with two outs, scored the go-ahead runs when Clendenon ripped a Rob Murphy offering to the wall in left-center. Ellis stayed in for the bottom of the 9th and retired the first two men before Diaz singled to put the potential tying run on base for the Reds. Dave Concepcion took a bat off the rack in place of Oester, but all that wood had in it was a grounder to short which Maury Wills flipped to Mazeroski for the game's final out. 1968 Pirates 8-12-1, 1987 Reds 7-11-0. [scoresheet]
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| Jerry May reached base three times and drove in two runs |
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| Gates Brown drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the winning run |
Consolation Round
1969 Dodgers (Don Sutton) at 2007 Braves (Chuck James): Atlanta pounded Sutton for eight hits and six runs in the first three innings, and then pulled away late to win after the Dodgers had closed to within a run. The first three Atlanta batters stroked base hits, and Sutton only escaped with just one run in the scorebook by fanning Andruw Jones and Kelly Johnson, the latter with the bases juiced. Two singles and a failed fielder's choice on a sacrifice in the 2nd produced another run, and then three hits and a walk plated three more in the 3rd. The Dodger starter was gone after four innings, and it looked like all the Braves would have to do was make it to the end and stay upright. But, it would not be so simple. After tossing four shutout innings, James hit the wall hard in the 5th when the first three Dodgers reached base and PH Bill Russell knocked in two of them. That brought Pete Moylan on for the 6th and he allowed base hits to the first two men and then booted a comebacker to load the bases, which Wes Parker unloaded with a three-run double. It was suddenly 6-5 and panic was beginning to set in on the Atlanta bench. But Rafael Soriano put LA back under wraps and, with Ray Lamb on for the Dodgers in the 7th, the Braves conjured up some two-out lightning. Edgar Renteria doubled, Jeff Francoeur singled him home, and Mark Teixeira tripled to make it 8-5 and give Atlanta some breathing room. Two more Braves would score in the 8th, and their bullpen would strand four baserunners over the final two innings to get the home team, well, home. Ted Sizemore had three hits for the Dodgers, as did Matt Diaz and Teixeira, and Renteria scored three times. 2007 Braves 10-12-1, 1969 Dodgers 5-8-0. [scoresheet]
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| Edgar Renteria scored three times at the top of the Atlanta order |
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| Harvey Kuenn atoned for an early miscue with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI |
The tournament was again loads of fun, and I'm again very grateful to everyone for participating in the spirit in which the event was intended. There were five one-run games, three two-homer games by hitters, one complete-game shutout and two instances of back-to-back homers. Home teams went 9-3, but did so very unevenly: 4-0 in the first and third rounds, while just 1-3 in the second. The 1987 Reds got the benefit of playing all three games at home - in a three-round tournament where opponents are not set in advance, it's impossible to prevent this, as they just happened to get matched up with teams that had the same number of home games to that point and won the tiebreaker rolls.
Final Results
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | RDiff | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 Pittsburgh Pirates | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 3 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| 1963 Detroit Tigers | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 1.0 | 1 | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| 1987 Cincinnati Reds | 2 | 1 | 0.167 | 1.0 | 10 | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| 1955 Detroit Tigers | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 1.0 | 7 | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| 1974 Chicago White Sox | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 2.0 | -5 | 1-1 | 0-1 |
| 1979 Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 2.0 | -3 | 1-0 | 0-2 |
| 2007 Atlanta Braves | 1 | 2 | 0.333 | 2.0 | -1 | 1-0 | 0-2 |
| 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 3.0 | -12 | 0-1 | 0-2 |
There were some showy performances in the tournament, especially by the Cincinnati batters (the Reds scored nine more runs than the next highest-scoring club), and there was also Bart Johnson's masterful two-hitter, the the man who came up biggest for the eventual champions was 1B Donn Clendenon. While the Pirates scored just twelve runs in winning their three games (eight of which came in one game), and used no pitcher twice in the tournament, Donn went 2-for-4 in the Pirates' first game, knocking in two of their three runs, and 2-for-4 in their second while again driving home a pair, and finished the tournament with a batting line of .333/.385/.417.
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